American flag etiquette is a set of customs laid out in the U.S. Flag Code (Title 4 of the United States Code) covering when to display the flag, how to position it, how to handle it, and how to retire it when worn. For civilians, these rules are advisory. No one is fined or jailed for getting them wrong, but they remain the shared standard for respectful treatment.
Is the Flag Code Enforceable
Not against civilians. The Flag Code reads like law because it sits in the federal code, but it functions as etiquette. Military personnel follow separate service regulations; everyone else follows the code as custom.
Congress once made public flag burning or defacement a federal crime punishable by up to a $1,000 fine or a year in jail. The Supreme Court struck that statute down in Texas v. Johnson, holding that flag burning is symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.1Legal Information Institute. Texas v Johnson 491 US 397 Every guideline below reflects tradition and respect, not a penalty you can be charged with.
When to Fly the Flag
The customary practice is to fly the flag on buildings and outdoor flagpoles from sunrise to sunset. If you want it up overnight, it should be properly illuminated during darkness.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 US Code 6 – Time and Occasions for Display
The flag is appropriate any day, and the code specifically encourages display on federal holidays and observances including New Year’s Day, Inauguration Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day (June 14), Independence Day, Labor Day, Constitution Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, along with each state’s admission date. The President may proclaim other display days.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 US Code 6 – Time and Occasions for Display
The flag should also fly daily near the main building of every public institution, at or near every polling place on election days, and at or near schools during school days.
How to Position the Flag
The single principle behind every placement rule: the union — the blue field with the stars — always takes the position of honor.
On a Wall or in a Window
When the flag hangs flat against a wall, whether horizontally or vertically, the union goes to the flag’s own right, which is the observer’s left. Facing a wall-mounted flag, the stars belong in the upper-left corner from where you stand.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display In a window, the flag faces outward with the union to the left of anyone looking at it from the street.
On a Staff or Vehicle
When the flag flies from a staff projecting out from a windowsill, balcony, or building front, the union stays at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half-staff. On a vehicle, the staff should be fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display
With Other Flags
When the U.S. flag appears with another flag on crossed staffs, the U.S. flag goes to its own right (observer’s left), and its staff sits in front of the other. In a group of flags on separate staffs, the U.S. flag takes the center position and flies at the highest point.
Indoors and on Stage
On a speaker’s platform, a flat-displayed flag hangs above and behind the speaker. If it stands on a staff, the flag takes the position of honor at the speaker’s right as they face the audience. Any other flags go to the speaker’s left.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display Event organizers frequently reverse this. “Speaker’s right” means from the speaker’s perspective facing the audience, not the audience’s right.
How to Behave During Ceremonies
When the flag is being raised or lowered, or when it passes in a parade, civilians should face the flag, stand at attention, and place their right hand over the heart. A non-religious hat comes off with the right hand and rests at the left shoulder, hand still over the heart. Military members in uniform salute. Veterans and service members not in uniform may also salute. Non-citizens simply stand at attention.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 9 – Conduct During Hoisting, Lowering, or Passing of Flag In a moving procession, these gestures happen the moment the flag passes.
The Pledge of Allegiance follows the same posture: stand facing the flag, right hand over the heart. Uniformed military remain silent, face the flag, and salute. Veterans not in uniform may render a military salute.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 4 – Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Handling, Cleaning, and Folding
The flag should never touch the ground, floor, water, or anything beneath it.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 8 – Respect for Flag Contrary to a persistent myth, a flag that touches the ground does not have to be destroyed. Pick it up. If it got dirty, clean it. Mild washing to preserve the fabric is fine, and small tears or frayed edges can be repaired so the flag stays presentable.
The correct fold produces a tight triangle showing only the blue field, resembling a Revolutionary War tricorne hat. Two people hold the flag waist-high, taut and parallel to the ground. Fold it lengthwise, striped section over the union, then lengthwise again with the union on the outside. From the striped end, make triangular folds — corner to opposite edge, then point turned inward parallel to the edge — repeating until only blue shows.7U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Correct Method of Folding the United States Flag
Half-Staff Rules
Half-staff is a mark of mourning, and the mechanics are deliberate. Raise the flag briskly to the peak first, then lower it to the midpoint. Before taking it down at the end of the day, raise it back to the peak, then lower it fully.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display On Memorial Day the flag stays at half-staff only until noon, then rises to full height for the remainder of the day.
Federal law fixes the duration by whose death is being marked:
- President or former President: 30 days
- Vice President, Chief Justice or retired Chief Justice, Speaker of the House: 10 days
- Associate Justice, Cabinet Secretary, former Vice President, or Governor: from death until burial
- Member of Congress: the day of death and the following day
The President can order half-staff for other officials, foreign dignitaries, or national tragedies. Governors can proclaim it for state officials, service members from their state who die on active duty, and first responders killed in the line of duty; federal installations in that state comply with the Governor’s proclamation. The flag also flies at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), unless that date falls on Armed Forces Day.
Retiring a Worn Flag
When a flag becomes too faded, torn, or tattered to serve as a dignified emblem, the code calls for respectful retirement, preferably by burning.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 8 – Respect for Flag A traditional ceremony places the flag on a fire, everyone stands by until it is fully consumed, and the ashes are buried.
The code was written when flags were cotton, wool, or silk. Most flags sold today are nylon or polyester. Burning synthetics releases toxic fumes, including hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide, and the material melts into a sticky residue instead of burning cleanly. Many municipalities also restrict open burning.
For a synthetic flag, safer options include drop-off collection points run by veterans’ organizations and civic groups that hold large-scale retirement ceremonies with proper ventilation. Another approach is ceremonial separation: carefully cutting the flag so that each stripe and the union are separated from one another. Once the components are apart, the material is no longer a flag and can be disposed of without the same symbolic weight. The point of any method is to avoid tossing a worn flag in the trash.
What Not to Do With the Flag
The flag itself should not be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery, and it should always hang free rather than gathered, bunched, or drawn back in folds.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 8 – Respect for Flag It should not serve as a ceiling covering, a carrying bag, or a receptacle for holding anything.
The flag should not be used for advertising, and advertising signs should not be attached to a flagpole from which the flag flies. Its image should not appear on disposable items like paper napkins or boxes meant to be thrown away, and no letters, marks, designs, or images should be placed on the flag itself.
A common point of confusion: wearing a flag-themed shirt or a flag patch on a jacket is not what these guidelines address. The rule concerns using an actual flag as clothing, not wearing fabric with a flag-inspired design. The two get conflated constantly, but the code treats them differently.